Developing, Connecting, and Mentoring Young Women Peacebuilders

Check up on the ALI Fellows and organizational updates by viewing our Fall 2015 Newsletter!

The Andi Leadership Institute for Young Women seeks to equip the next generation of young, female peacebuilders with the necessary conflict resolution and leadership skills during their formative years, providing them with greater access to peace negotiations and leadership positions in the future. The Institute launched its pilot program in August 2013 through a three-week long seminar with 8 young women, from Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and the United States, in Washington, D.C. Participants are continuing to be mentored through the implementation of their capstone projects in their home communities. As ALI alumni, they are members of the ALI Peace Fellows network of young woman leaders engaged through continued dialogue, support and resources.

“Women’s leadership is essential to making peace processes sustainable, but women are mostly missing from high-level peace negotiations around the world,” said Advisory Council Member and MSNBC host Rachel Maddow. “The institute seeks to fix this by giving young women the skills they need to become peacebuilders at a young age. When something like this works, it not only opens the way for more success in those women’s future lives, it also clears the ground behind them for more women to enter that field.”

Voices of the Pilot Program“I think the Andi Leadership Institute program will help improve my leadership skills, self confidence, and networking abilities,” said Syrian participant Afnan Bahloul. “As a Syrian, learning more about peacebuilding is important to me in effort to improve my ability to deal with the current conflict now and post-war rebuilding.” Get an update on Afnan's work post program here